Posted on 06/09/2002 8:47:33 AM PDT by Momaw Nadon
MOSCOW, June 9 — Russian soccer fans went on a rampage Sunday after watching their national team lose to Japan, and one man died after apparently being caught in the melee.
An Associated Press photographer saw a mutilated corpse lying on the street during the chaos, which erupted just outside the Kremlin and lasted more than an hour. At least seven cars could be seen burning and more than a dozen were overturned.
Thousands of fans marched through the streets chanting ''Forward, Russia!'' and other soccer slogans.
The Interfax news agency said one man was killed and more than 20 people injured in the riots. A duty officer at the Moscow police refused to confirm the information.
Few police officers were in sight when the riots erupted, and it took about an hour for police and firefighters to bring order to the area.
The fans had been watching the Russia-Japan match on a big screen television set up on Manezh Square, next to the Kremlin. Japan defeated Russia 1-0.
Imagine what's going to happen ten years from now when the US wins the world cup. It'll be riots, stampedes, beatings, lootings, shootings, and whatever other craziness they can think of -- the world will declare a "crisis of democracy" and set itself on fire.
MOSCOW (AP) -- At least one man was killed when Russian soccer fans went on a rampage after watching their national team lose to Japan in the World Cup on Sunday.
An Associated Press photographer saw a mutilated corpse lying on the street during the chaos, which erupted just outside the Kremlin and lasted more than an hour. At least seven cars could be seen burning and more than a dozen were overturned.
Thousands of fans ran through the streets chanting ``Forward, Russia!'' and other soccer slogans. They broke shop windows, jumped up and down on cars and fought among themselves, throwing empty beer bottles at each other. Some of them were wrapped in the Russian tricolor.
Plumes of smokes rose from several cars near the national parliament building and from the square in front of the Bolshoi Theater.
The Interfax news agency said one man was knifed to death and more than 20 people, including one policeman, injured in the riots. A duty officer at the Moscow police department refused to confirm the information.
Interfax also reported, citing police sources, that five exchange students from Japan were beaten on a nearby street.
The fans, mostly teen-aged boys and young men, had been watching the Russia-Japan match on a big screen set up on Manezh Square next to the Kremlin. Japan defeated Russia 1-0.
The riots erupted after Japan scored its goal, but before the game ended. Few police officers were nearby at the time, and they did not arrive until almost an hour later, when most of the aggressive fans had left the area.
Firefighters arrived first, and the rioters attacked their trucks. Photographers and cameramen also were beaten. Interfax reported an ambulance was set on fire and a doctor attacked.
Once police arrived, some fans tried to help them detain the instigators of the riots by overpowering the hooligans and leading them to the police.
Aggressive Russian soccer fans, who often sport shaved heads, have in the past gone on rampages in Moscow, but never to such an extent.
There have been several serious racially motivated attacks by skinheads on ethnic minorities in Moscow recently. These people are bound to be avid supporters of the Russian football team. We have already seen this phenomenon over many years in England.
The die hard English football hooligans are often members of the National Front or Combat 18. They go along to England's football matches overseas to incite violence against the foreign supporters and the host nation. Unfortunately, any popular game of the common people, played on an international stage, is prone to hijack by racist/fascist elements.
I don't think it's the skinhead hooligan phenomenon that will be present there; it's simply anti-American sentiment among the S. Korean left.
Of course, British hooligans are generally considered the worst of the entire lot. I posted a thread here a few weeks ago with the news that hundreds of them were banned from attending the World Cup and were actually forced to surrender their passports to the authorities.
Its not just that they are young and often drunk, but also that they are being manipulated by ringleaders who are usually members of racist/fascist organisations.
We have seen this sort of football violence in England and it is usually inspired by hard bitten football hooligans who are members of the NF and C18.
Yes they are very bad. Newcastle has the worst football hooligans of all, its been estimated that there are about 1,000 regular football hooligans. They go along to Newcastle's football games and start trouble if their team looses.
Apparently, similar things have been happening in Russia. I heard that the fans from a Moscow football club have clashed with rival fans. The skinheads are bound to try to inspire the non-political football hooligans into violent acts against foreign fans or ethnic minorities. This is certainly a common problem in England.
Easy. It's boring.
I ask myself the same question marv. I simply don't understand why people get so violent before, during, and after soccer games. Is it a matter of pride, or what? I wish somebody would explain it to me.
Any game that is popular among the 'common people', when played on the international stage, is capable of acting as a vehicle for nationalism and racism. If people really want their national football team to win and are drunk, then the feelings of frustration and anger they feel if it looses are very real. All it takes is a ringleader, who is often a racist or a fascist, to incite them to take action. Look at the photos above - many of the rioters are skinheads.
The skinheads are involved in several fascist organisations and they were reponsible for some serious racial attacks recently in Moscow, especially around Hitler's birthday. No doubt, they incite the other fans to acts of violence, we have seen this in England many times. Its a good job there weren't a coachload of Japenese tourists sightseeing in Moscow during the game! I wonder if the number of racial attacks on Japenese and Chinese people will increase in Russia over the next few weeks.
Russia is a pretty dangerous country you know. It has the second highest murder rate in the World after South Africa. Also the age group who were rioting are in serious danger from conscription, an institution that killed at least 5,000 young men in 2001 and probably more like 10,000. Conscription also facilitates ultra-nationalism and racism in Russia's young men.
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